Judge: Death certificate should list gay couple as married

Temporary restraining order issued in same-sex marriage case

UPDATED 6:48 PM EDT Jul 22, 2013

A judge has granted a temporary restraining order to a couple fighting to have their marriage recognized by the state of Ohio.

Jim Obergefell and John Arthur married in Maryland, which recognizes gay marriages, and they filed a federal lawsuit alleging Ohio violates the U.S. Constitution by denying legal recognition to same-sex couples who marry elsewhere.

The couple filed the suit Friday against Ohio's governor, attorney general and the Cincinnati health department registrar who files death certificates.

A federal judge granted the temporary restraining order Monday afternoon prohibiting the registrar from issuing a death certificate for Arthur, who is dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease, that does not list him as being married.

The death certificate must also list Obergefell as the surviving spouse, the judge ruled.

A final ruling on the case remains a long way off, however.

The couple was married earlier this month after 25 years of partnership, although Arthur has just weeks to live.

There are legal and economic implications to the case, including taxes, inheritance and other benefits.

"Would it mean that after I'm gone, if I go first, that (my partner) would continue to get my Social Security which is, you know, the right of married people?" said David Moore, of Newport.

The state of Ohio suggested there was no urgency to the Cincinnati case even though Arthur is not expected to live much longer.

It said death certificates can be corrected at a later date, and the state's attorneys argued that the couple lived in a state that constitutionally bans same-sex marriages.

But Judge Timothy Black agreed with the argument made by the couple's attorney, Al Gerhardstein, who pointed out the state does not permit marriage between first cousins but recognizes such marriages legally performed in states that do.